Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Get Blog updates in your Email!

Progress Update!

Apologies for the lack of updates here! While I've been meaning to post more frequently here, please keep in mind you can get the latest and most in-depth news via Patreon! I give a major monthly progress update for $3/mo patrons, as well as weekly technical updates including artwork and previews for the Inner Circle tier. At any rate, here's a high level overview of the major happenings with the project!

Malise and the Machine v0.0511 Release

I definitely dropped the ball on this one, as I should have made a post about this when it happened. On October 31 we released v0.051 of MATM, and soon after v0.0511 was released. This update featured all the remaining artwork for Neon's Tactical Frame armor type, as well as a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements made by AltairPL since the release of v0.05. If you're interested, you can get it instantly here via Patreon by pledging at the $3 tier! In addition, the artwork PDF has been updated as well, so if you're interested in the high resolution artwork you can check it out here!

New Dev Team Member!

Perhaps you noticed the little clip above? It’s a teaser from the new promotional video done by our newest team member! He’s an all-around audio and production badass, and I’ve been working on getting him involved with the project for a while now. From here on out he will take the reins when it comes to audio production, a thing that’s been severely neglected outside soundtrack work and licensing. Having experience in graphic design and video editing, he will also be working on promotion and promotional content (such as the above).

New Render Management Software

Over the past couple of months I've been strongly devoted to optimizing my efficiency with future character and story artwork. A whole lot of time has gone down the drain due to my software and hardware not meeting the standards for a massive project like MATM, and taking the time to rectify that has been an absolute necessity if we want to carry the level of quality we've gotten the game to through to the finish.

To accomplish the above, I first tackled the software side of things. One of the biggest drawbacks to using Daz Studio for character art is that its rendering configuration is by no means optimal for a complex render setup like what we have going on. It’s not to say Daz isn’t useful for character art, as in the past year I’ve discovered some of my favorite game artists that work on AAA projects use it for posing and character design. For whatever reason however, no one had attempted a solid render management and batch render solution for Daz. What this boils down to is that with the exception of animations, I had to do renders by hand. This means I had to manually set the lighting/ load any material presets / change the output file name / whatever and click"render"... sometimes up to 25 times or more per final image (in the case of this last story H scene, for instance). It was both tedious and very time consuming. This however is no longer the case, because early on in October I determined it was possible to create the render manager / batch renderer I've needed since the start of this project.

The end result is the MATM Render Manager. This is a GUI-based render manager and batch rendering plugin for Daz Studio customized for Malise and the Machine. The tool dynamically builds options by recognizing characters / objects in the scene and allows for complex pre-configuration of renders, giving the user the ability to click “render”once and let it run in the background. The tool saves anyone working on character artwork (future additional character artists?) for the game anywhere from 20 minutes to hours per completed image based on the complexity of the scene.

New Rendering Rig / 3D Workstation

The second major area for improvement I focused on was my hardware. This has been a long time coming, since up till now I’ve been using a mid-range gaming PC from 2012(?) for development. Up till now however it’s been completely out of our price range. This was by far the biggest expense since the start of the game, and I want to thank my patrons on Patreon for giving us the financial backing to make it possible!

This was no small endeavor, as these kinds of systems aren’t standard by any means, and it took a lot of research and searching for parts in order to reduce cost (to give you an idea, the system would have cost $6500+ retail in parts alone had I not found other sources). Admittedly, it was a lot more work than I thought going into it, and the build went anything but smoothly due to difficulties in acquiring parts, but now that it's completed I can say it was a worthwhile move. So, what does this behemoth do for me you may ask? In short, it not only has the potential to cut a lot of time off of overall development, but will allow for more adventurous undertakings (more animations, etc). In not-so-short terms, check below:

Extremely improved rendering times.

Greatly improved hard drive speeds.

Double the SSD space for working drives, double the RAM for binge multitasking in PS/Daz.

Improved editing performance.

Extensibility beyond MATM.

Engine Development Progress

While I've been focused on artwork development optimizations, AltairPL has been hard at work on the next iteration of the MATM battle engine. We have a whole slew of potential improvements to balancing and the lust system in the design stages, however APL's work so far has been to better accommodate features we've either been piling on since V0.03, have had to set aside until something like this could be accomplished, or have planned for the future (things like double teaming). He's made quite a few major accomplishments so far, of which you can check out details and preview screenshots for on Patreon!

Map and Environment Progress

Back in v0.05 we had just introduced the new map engine, along with new maps created by our environment artist, TK. We're glad to say TK has completed his revamp of the Access Tunnels maps, meaning that in v0.06 you'll see an improved and consistent map style throughout the game.

In addition, TK has begun concept and technical work on the new areas planned for v0.06. It probably goes without saying, but you can check out his latest work on Patreon :D.

As always, thanks for your continued interest in our project! We look forward to getting v0.06 out to you as soon as possible!

- Eromancer

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Comments

I think it is wrong the direction you are going with all of this, the game is still essentially the same thing as the demo you released last year, and now you are making people have to pay to get a monthly update, it is no wonder why you are shedding patrons on Patreon, no wonder at all.

It feels like lately you have been geared towards making profit, but innovation is lacking, simple innovations well within your limits could be done too. The game could be better, you ignore emails, and suggestions.

Will it take another year for some of this stuff to get finished, because I remember back in 2014 when this was announced and to be quite blunt, it is beginning to feel like a lot of hype for so little.

Plus the leveling system feels dull, slow, and the enemies should be rightfully worth more experience. Without a curve to the difficulty, there is no reason to continue playing the game past a certain level, and I don't mean scaling, because the enemies don't need to level up with the player, that doesn't make sense and it would make leveling pointless.

Enthusiasm for the game is starting to faceplant. A good game is never about features, it's about the level and type of interaction with the enemies and the challenge.

Cutting out sections of the game from the earlier updates felt silly, that puzzle wasn't impossible, removing it after it was already there disappointed a lot of people. I guess in the end it is just a game for casuals who want to masturbate and then only play it for that, so for me I am confused if it is a game with sex, or sex wrapped up in the facade of being a game?

That said, you should be able to revisit the flesh-father sanctum and fight Neon's children, the eggs that hatch. Maybe even make them look different, a darker shade, or perhaps stronger or something..? Sincerely Your's:--Q

Firstly, don't shit on something you want to shine. We aren't shedding patrons. If you make an outright lie at my expense then I will be sure to correct it.

Secondly, miracles are great and all, but in the real world good things take time and effort to develop. We're extremely grateful for everyone who's taken a chance on us, however I'm sorry for those that expected something like a 6 month development cycle on a game with such an ambitious scope. That's your own undoing and not ours.

Simply because the suggestions don't make it into the game *in the next update* does not mean we don't consider them. A lot of what's already in the game has been inspired by user suggestions, and we're super thankful for the enthusiastic feedback of our audience. I'd also like to point out that not all suggestions are the best for the project, and without the full vision of the project you aren't in the position to make that call.

The last issue. Tell me how exactly spending a full month's income on hardware specifically for the purpose of speeding up development moving forward is "geared towards making profit". Dumping all the income back into the project sounds like a really terrible way to accomplish that.

On the contrary, this is what it looks like when a team is gearing up for the long haul. Yes, it's going to take awhile to finish the game. Keep in mind however that it takes perseverance on both sides.

If the community wants a great adult RPG and then decides they don't want to wait for it, then they will simply be affirming to developers that shovelware is the way to go (like we already see in the adult gaming market). I've already declined offers from companies wanting to turn MATM into an online freemium game.

Apologies for having to lay it out for you in such a way, but that's how it is.

Well when your cash-flow drops about five thousand dollars, it would be an outright lie to suggest that it isn't happening.

If you don't bring to light issues, and praise-praise-praise, who'll care? I get it, you are the team leader, you want everyone to be happy with what you do, you want this dream to workout, but you are hungry for money in a rather crass way.

"Pay to get an update"...what the hell for? That is absurd. You are just asking people to stop caring.

You talk as if the rest of the world has no idea how games are made, maybe you'd be surprised who people are and what projects they make.I get it, if you are spending whatever cash you can on hardware, another employee, et-cetera, but I feel like that excuse, the way you go about doing that, and making it seem like something that should be our burden, "Pay me so I can get this, so you get that", kind of mentality is rather silly for a content creator. You imply that you are doing us a favor with this strategy of yours.

Cutscenes don't make a game, the gameplay does.In any case, maybe you should list out your goals, stretch goals, completed goals, upcoming game mechanics, because as far as I can tell, not much is planned, we are left in the dark. Instead you have these updates, "Go here so you can pay me", "Have you gone there yet, I need your money", it is annoying...that is not an update on the game itself, just your crowd-funding campaign.

Also, if combat lasts longer than a minute, maybe another enemy should appear to replace any fallen ones the player has fell in combat. Maybe the mechanical enemies should be capable of calling in support, maybe some enemies should be able to escape, in which the enemy would come back later, which would trigger a secondary attack after you have just gotten out of combat with another enemy earlier.

Stuns perhaps, the player is always being ambushed, yet they do a good job at getting out of the situation, maybe if the enemy, or perhaps a returning enemy stunned the player at the beginning of combat it would be a change of pace to make combat more difficult.

A game creator should ask for criticism. How else will they improve?-Q

If you think I'm unhappy with your post because of criticism, you're way off. I'm unhappy with your post because you're spinning misinformation, knowingly or not, in an attempt to smear my name.

On that note, why do you keep going back to the topic of criticism? I at no point said you shouldn't offer criticism on the game. In fact, I just now said to suggest away, but don't necessarily expect us to like everything (and certainly don't expect ideas to make it into the game immediately). If I gave feedback on every idea thrown my way I'd do nothing but post on forums and respond to emails all day.

As far as I can tell, you're simply mad that I haven't validated your ideas on the game, and are resorting to attacking my promotional strategies to make me look dishonest.

For those reading, here are the facts that our friend is missing:

The big goofy dollar number on the front of the Patreon page that he's referring to dropped because we switched from a "per update" campaign to "monthly". This means payment cycles for pledges come more often, but we gained access to a lot of great features on Patreon that weren't available to us otherwise. The reward tier prices also dropped by 60-80% depending on the tier to even the payment cycle time discrepancy out. Patrons are adjusting their pledges to the new format, so of course the total amount will go down. In fact, we expected it to drop further. Instead, our switch to a more accessible entry point netted us 240 new patrons in November over our patronage for the V0.05 release.

As further evidence against the claims that there's some mass exodus due to "me not listening to suggestions", here are our processed patron numbers for each major pledge cycle of the project:

I gotta say, I'm not seeing evidence of the pattern that you're suggesting.

I really need to add that unless you're just trolling me, you clearly misunderstand the concept of Patreon, and of crowdfunding in general.

If you are pledging specifically for an update with the mindset that it's a retail transaction then you are doing it wrong.

The purpose of Patreon is to support creators so that they can create something that you want to see finished that could not be created otherwise. The updates are there as a reward, something to give back for helping us to make it happen.

Would you prefer I be completely non-transparent about spending? That's what you're suggesting. And as for the comments about me "asking for money", you have to realize *the purpose of this blog is to draw support for the project*. I'm in no way putting a gun to anyone's head, I'm just making the project more accessible.

You have dropped nearly three hundred patrons this month, and the month isn't close to being over.. The number of patrons is moderately stable, because you seem to have this idea that forcing people to pay in order to have the privilege of reading your updates. It is both smart, and in my opinion damaging to your whole goal. It turns people off. No matter how you want to spin it, it is hemorrhaging support. Locking your updates is sketchy thing, because of course you don't update your tumblr or blogspot as much if you are forcing people to pay on Patreon, it economically makes sense, and then people who pay there would be upset that they are free here.

You aren't putting a gun to anyone's head for support, but you are putting a gun to the whole morale system and the idea of enthusiastic support by the fans.

The things I suggested were just simple things to make decent game more fun, a game doesn't necessarily need hentai for it to be fun, but I'll leave that up to your personal discretion to decide as you will on how to go about making your own game fun or not.

It should be a telling sign when your blog has so few hits and comments. You want people to be happy about an update not angry. Lately these 'far-and-few' updates seem to be objectively about money in some way or another.

I am not posting comments out of spite, to slander, or anything of that sort, I am only regurgitating the observable facts. If you'd prefer no one comments fine, if you'd prefer only praise, fine, all I was doing is telling you what your fans are thinking.

You can choose to ignore it or not, it really doesn't matter, the project will be successful either way it would seem. Maybe this game will just fade into obscurity and be forgotten...maybe it won't...

Every monthly campaign has huge drop at the beginning of the month and it's related to how Patreon processes pledges and updates stats - take a look at graph linked below to see that it is in fact Patreon-wide and not MATM-only:https://graphtreon.com/patreon-statsIf you want, you can also study MATM only graph, which will also show that project is slowly gaining more support:https://graphtreon.com/creator/eromancerBefore you jump to any conclusions:- September 1st was the last "per update" charge and the drop is related to it, just like for every monthly charge for "per month" campaigns.- October 11th was the day on which switch to monthly was announced in a patreon post, which also advised patrons to adjust their pledges to match new (lower) reward tiers.

TBH, I haven't noticed any discontent amongst the patrons, some are more impatient than others, but they're very understanding and we are thankful to them for it.

I don't know what your suggestions were, but considering that you're calling them "simple" would suggest that you would expect them to be implemented very quickly. Problem is that I alone have few TODO/notes files (few hundreds of lines total) with things waiting to be implemented, ideas, suggestions, and other "simple things"... Eromancer most likely has a lot more stuff like that, and the only reason why they're not implemented is because we are simply prioritizing our work - we have enough work with way more important things to deal with minor things. Also, try to take into consideration than "one man's fun is another's hell" - your suggestions are subjective and we have to be as objective as possible, which isn't easy.

The only reason why blog isn't updated more often is the lack of time - plain and simple. There's no malice or greed behind it. Hiring "community manager" was planned, and it would increase number of progress updates for both patrons and non-patrons, but Eromancer decided to hire great sound/music guy instead, since he had such opportunity - I wouldn't say that this was decision dictated by greed.

Your observations are incorrect and that's why Eromancer decided to reply to you and correct them. We don't mind constructive criticism, cause it helps project to get better and that's a win-win for everybody. Oddly enough, removed puzzle WAS due to constructive criticism - we are very proud of this puzzle and it was a shame we had to remove it, but we agreed with the players - beginning of the game just isn't a good place for such a puzzle, nor is making it obligatory. Don't worry though, this particular puzzle will return at some point, and there will be a lot more puzzles, but most likely they will be optional (with great rewards).

As for enemy balancing mentioned in your first post - do mind that the game is still in alpha phase - things change constantly and re-balancing everything on the fly is not always worth the time. You may call it lazy, I call it saving precious time - my main task for 0.06 is (hopefully last) battle engine overhaul and when it's done it will require a lot of work with balancing everything again.

Okay those charts only indicates that you are losing support gradually. That isn't news. Those updates and the progress is slow, you continue to keep the campaign a mystery, and alienate the public by restricting access to updates by making them a 'pay-to-read' system.I don't think anyone is impatient, people just don't want to spend their time waiting only to be met with some mediocre update as if it should mean something. When you are throwing money at something your patience will only last so long, and you will try to be more patient, but when you see that the game you are working on is essentially the demo, just extended partially and it has been a year already. 12 months and progress is slower than before. Some people have been watching this project from the beginning. Newcomers might be excited and patient, but that only takes into account the people newly coming to see how things are going.

If the team has To-Do lists, post them online, let the fan base know what is coming, what is expected, and what is being prioritized, that would be a step in the right direction.

Subjection and objection, in terms of goal is itself subjectively idealistic.If you have things you feel are more important, then share them in updates, say, "This is what we are going to be working on and this is what is coming after that-", otherwise we are waiting for the unknown. I wouldn't want to wait for someone for unknown reasons.

It doesn't take a community manager to post a minor update, it really doesn't. That just sounds like laziness.

I think your puzzles were good for the community. Removing them is fine, but I think it removes a lot of depth in the process, which is one problem the game suffers from. The game is supposed to be leading up to some apocalypse, but we never get real foreshadowing indications of this kind of build-up. I get it, it is supposed to be dark humor, but...does that mean you sacrifice plot?

I do not understand why graphics trumps gameplay, I don't get this new craze where graphics are more important than making a meaningful gaming experience and trying to make the game play more enjoyable is some kind of strain, whilst graphics are updated gleefully and no one will notice, care, or find the game more fun because of it.

Hey'o! Evening y'all! Altair PL, Q, Eromancer.Those charts just show you are losing support over time...

Lots of tension here... I for one as a game developer know that games take a long time, but there are 'simple' code changes to make the battle more interesting. And there are community things like just saying "'Ello, game is a pain to work on, but here are some of the things we are working on." I would like that.I am willing to wait, but the updates are lacking.

Well I would like to see a list of upcoming features if I am waiting like this...If you guys are posting comments as long as a blog update than anyone could spend time out of their day to be a community manager.

The puzzle is what kept it kinda cerebral and intelligent, but instead it is just a dungeon hunt game rather than me actually having to 'THINK' whilst playing.

I like the graphics. I think the graphics updates were nice. There are a lot of nice games with good graphics, I for one do think that maybe the prioritization is a bit wonky, more graphics please, although I am not sure that focusing on them will make the game any better if it takes time away from other things.

The charts show what AltairPL was indicating. That is, Patreon has a really screwy way of updating the amount displayed that the creators earn. They've recognized that, and have actually offered a beta to high earning creators to hide that number, since it creates confusion like you guys are expressing. But yes, we're irritated with it too and can understand that confusion.

Please don't be fooled by the green line going down on Graphtreon. Graphtreon has a fatal flaw with its data reporting in that it in no way indicates that we changed from "per campaign" to "monthly". Before October 10 2016 we were earning approximately $15k per release (once every 3-4 months). With the new model we now take in around $11k per month (after new patrons have joined and after patrons have reduced their pledges to the new, lower priced tiers). Hence why I was able to pour some of our new earnings into hardware :D.

I write long counter arguments because it's like a copyright. It does no good to have a great product if you don't defend it mercilessly against misinformed or false accusations. And yes, it does take away from development time.

Q you really speak only bullshit and the biggest joke is that you say that the other fans, think like you. lolyou are just mad because the updates are not for free and the devs dont work for nothing. (do you work for free or are you going to school?)the devs do a great job, they work with 3-4 guys and did allready magic thinks. other studios work with 100+ and need years and often the games are shit. i think they deserve every dollar !!!!

You must be new then sir. I have a career, I do not work for free if that answers any question. Unless you stuck around you might know what I was talking about, I cannot say your opinion is any less valid, you can think away on what they deserve or do not deserve.

It isn't a joke if other fans do think as I think. People leave things for a reason. Of course other fans are disappointed. However it's up to you and your discretion to decide for yourself.

You're only disappointed because you have highly unrealistic expectations that are apparently fueled by misinformation.

Literally every tangible accusation you've thrown against us has been debunked in this thread with evidence, which you're apparently refuting since you are still claiming people are leaving. Here's the Graphtreon data without the money showing (which I've explained the issue with in my above response to TEAM SOL).

Well regardless of who is right or wrong. You assume people are new, because they have high hopes for the project. You yourself sound like you have high hopes Q.I think your criticism isn't unique so to that degree you are correct, there are other people who have been saying similar things.

I think the leveling system is a bit silly, like the XP values for some enemies, I think that the arousal bar should be increased per level so the higher level you are the harder it is to get aroused. Health and stamina increases but not your resistance to attacks and not your arousal bar values.

I think some special enemies should be worth far more experience for defeating than they otherwise are.

I think implementing new Tetra abilities was impressive I tip my hat to you, I have zero complaints about it. I do think that Q's ideas weren't bad, enemies calling in reinforcements or if the match lasts too long more enemies come in, or standing still for too long attracts enemies.

The game is just way too easy in some ways and difficult in the wrong ways, such as in the leveling. I'd be worried about the legality of it all, having people work for free for something you intend to sell later....sure of course it would be risky, it is more risky to wait forever when another new game might just be ripping your ideas and making a faster or better version of your game and before long your game is out dated and old news. Happens all the time to H-games. Especially the ones that get finished.

You took out the puzzle area, I expect you to probably take out the vorepups or vioreapers from the beginning area too in future updates. The scope is far bigger than it needs to be, the subterranean area of the game looks like you put a lot of hard work into it, maybe it will be played through a second time by that new female character we got to see, Vel or Ven, I am forgetting... It is on the Tumblr.

Q's ideas were fine, however I never got a chance to focus on them since I was too busy providing evidence to counter his false claims regarding the campaign. For some backstory, he sent me some exceedingly long emails (sometimes on a daily basis) and I simply never got around to responding to them all.

Quite a few of the game related things you just mentioned simply haven't been addressed yet. As you say, the scope of the game is big (keep in mind battles worth fighting aren't usually downhill), so you have to assume that things you see in game may be placeholders and not there by design. Some things that will receive very big overhauls in the future include the stats system (related to your point on resistance) and equipment.

Many of my priorities have been related to making the game a possibility in the long term as opposed to fine tuning things on a per-release basis (things like XP gain for instance). The puzzle area however was removed simply because it didn't fit that well. As AltairPL said, it will be retooled and put someplace more appropriate.

I don't really understand what you're saying in the whole paragraph about "working for free". Who is working for free? Also to what are you referring when you say "wait forever"?

I really love this little worms with the "Hand Trap". I looks like Bondage. Amazing. A group attack would be great. Maybe after finished hand trap, when the girl ist down 2 or 3 groups of the worms attacks together.

We actually plan on implementing group H attacks (part of our programmer's work this past month was to overhaul the battle engine to allow the inclusion of such things as that actually), so something like what you're describing could fall into that category :D.

I don't exact want to complain, since I am not a patreon I am just following your progress, but the last release was in september, 5.1 was in octuber, we are in january, that is much time without new releases, especially considering that you changed your patreon for monthly pledges instead of update ones.

What I am trying to say is: this isn't much reassuring for new people wanting to donate to you. I know it's better to have less updates with more content than the other way around, but even so, I read somewhere, I think it was one of the comments here in the blog, that version 5.0 didn't had much more than the past one. I think one of you tried to argue about it, but wasn't very convincing. The demo was very promising and I really would like to see this game released. I just hope you can make it.

That was a headache to read. Well, good riddance to Q, really taking the 'passive' out of 'passive aggressive'. He's probably gone through too many free projects where they release public builds a month after patrons receive them.

Well your project is very good, i must praise for your work. But it doesn't mean the game don't have flaws in my opinion:+Arouse system is a good feature but it doesn't bring out any real threat, i can running around with full arouse bar without any difficult(like our heroine masturbate in the middle of battle while enemy still bring damage,..)+Sexual Activity only happen inside battle and through cutscene. +We only can win a battle through killing all enemy or escapse+Enemy Spawn, if we prolong the fight we have a chance getting more enemy appear on the scene. And next is the longer we stay at an area the more frequently we encounter enemy+Enemy Type, some monster only aim at killing our char so i think we can have some monster only aim at sexual attack our char.+Char Development, the stat ingame actually doesn't have much impact on the gameplay, level up just increase HP, SP, Attack and Defend Point, i think we need some freedom in changing statThat is all. Well sorry if i offend you, the game have a lot of potential, it's very good. I have been observing the game since it announced. I always hype when you announce the next ver. I wish you the best in the future ^^

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We’ve obviously been quiet for some time in the eye of the public, but rest assured we’ve been chugging away and are making great progress. There are a lot of big plans on the horizon that will greatly improve Malise and the Machine, and I wanted to stop in and say I’ll be making a lengthy public post detailing these and our accomplishments from the last few months as soon as there is a confirmed date for v0.06.

I don't come completely empty handed though! Check out our Tumblr for a preview of the game's backstory!

System Requirements
If you haven't played the previous releases of MATM, then PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING!

Malise and the Machine utilizes the RPG Maker VX Ace engine. To play, you must install the RPG Maker VX Ace RTP (run time package), which you can download and install for free from http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download/additional/run-time-packages (click the blue button at the bottom of the page to download).

It's highly recommended that the first time you start the game you make a critical adjustment to the RPG Maker VX Ace settings to vastly improve performance of the game. To do this, …